It's Not Easy (NaNoWriMo!)

Prologue

It's never been easy, probably never will. I don't think anything I ever do will result in something good. My parents were killed in a car crash when I was little; I blame myself to this day. If I hadn't made a fit about going home from the Christmas party that drunk driver would have just flown by. Instead the driver had hit my dad's side of the car dead on as we pulled out of the parking lot.

I lost them that day and ever since my life has left me with nothing but pain. So now, at the age of fourteen, I am living with my Aunt and two cousins in a three bedroom house at the bad side of Fairmiller.

Fairmiller was a small town in southern British Columbia. It was small enough that everyone knew everyone but we had bigger classes in school. I hated it here, I missed the house by the ocean back home in Vancouver.

I could never go back though.

So there I was ten years after the death of my parents sitting in my room at my Aunt's house, or I guess my house. Staring at the ceiling had become a habit to the point where my cousin Jack had posted glow-in-the-dark stars on the roof. I lay there today because of Jack, his fists bounced off the door as he screamed at the top of his lungs, resulting in me turning my headphones up louder.

"I am going to break this door down if you don't give me my Gameboy back!"

Jumping from the bed, I crawled my way over and unlocked the door, which instantly burst open, "What have you done to deserve it back?"

I sat on my knees and he stared down at me, "I don't want to clean my room!"

"Then you don't get it back," my voice was higher as I spoke to him, which I knew made the six year old angry. He screamed something that sounded like gibberish at me then ran down the hallway.

"You're a horrible sister!" he yelled as his door slammed shut. It wasn't unusual for him to call me his sister, I had been living here since before he was even born and no one really wanted to break it to him.

Slowly, I stood up and made my way soundlessly down the hallway. After pulling the Gameboy out of my pocket and popped the game out of it. As soundlessly as I could, I set the game on the floor and slide it under the doorway and into Jack's bedroom. He sighed, and then I heard him stomp over the door.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" he stood in the doorway, the door rocking back and forth.

I held the Gameboy up to him, "For every toy, or clothing item you put away you get another game back. Oh, yes, I do have all them and your charger. If you eat your supper you get the charger back, if you bathe you get the game back."

He glared at me but slowly started picking things off the floor. Taking the opportunity, I ran into my Aunts room and grabbed the container of games off the bedside table.

"How many games is that now?" I asked once I was sitting on Jack's bed. The room had barely moved since I left.

Jack poked his head from his closet, "Five." I threw five games toward him and he quickly gathered them into his pockets. Soon all his pockets were full and his room clean.

"Give me the rest!" he pouted. I held up the container to show that it was, in face, empty.

I smiled, "Now was that so bad? Now I am going to make supper and phone Blair. Find something productive to do." 

"Productive?" he repeated. "Wassdat mean?"

"Look it up."

He glared at me, "I can't use a dic-shin-ip-ary."

I giggled then walked down to the hallway, into the kitchen. As I pulled out a can of soup and a pot, I dialed Blair's number.

"Hey Cuz!" Blair's voice rang over the phone.

"Hey, I was just wondering how much longer you and Aunt Jane will be?"

I heard muffled voices over the phone, and then Blair's voice came back, more heavy before, "Mom says at about eight. Traffic in the city is thick and we are stuck."

"You don't sound to please. How was the visit with your dad?"

She grunted, "Got to meet is new toy."

I clicked my tongue as I stirred the soup, "Let me guess, blond and old enough to be my sister?"

"You got it. I got to go. Mom needs my phone, see you in a few hours." her phone clicked shut and the line went dead. I threw the phone on the counter and grabbed two bowls.

"Jack!" I hollered, the little blond haired boy pranced into the room, clearly in a better mood then ten minutes before.

"If I eat that I get my charger?" I nodded to him and he smiled as he took his seat at the table. He ate silently, gobbling all it down within five minutes. Finally he put his spoon in his empty bowl and looked up at me.

"Gimme!" he demanded. I walked over to the counter and reached to the top cupboard, the charger was sitting a little pink basket with some spices. Jack grabbed it from my hand and ran to hide it in his room.

"While you're in there get your bath stuff!" I hollered. I heard a moan but he obeyed, coming out with his pajamas tucked under his arms. He followed me into the bathroom and watched as I ran him a bath.

"It's too hot." I adjusted the water and he put his hand in it again.

"Too cold."

"How about now?"

"Good, now leave so I can take my bath," he said as he pulled on the bottom of his shirt.

Before I left I slid the Gameboy underneath Jack's pajama shirt. I seated myself and the couch, lying down with my feet up. Those seconds of solitude were disturbed when the front door opened.

"Chloe?" my Aunt Jane called, "come help me with these bags!"